Home Buyer Report or Building Survey?

farazfastian

Hi All,

After reading this forum i was regreting why i didn't look for it before. My offer is accepted and now i'm in the process of survey though i still think probably i could have get it in less than what i've offered.

Anyway my current problem is about the survey i went for the Home Buyer Report, my survey is booked for tomorrow i know i'm too late to change but still thinking to try out tomorrow morning as survey is in the afternoon.

The propery is in Hillingdon near Long Lane and i believe it was built in 1930 just wondering if i would have gone for Building Survey rather than Home Buyer, what do you suggest?

p.s. The property is old but looks very well maintained, spoke to both agent and surveyor they both thinks there's no need fot Building Survey.

Many Thanks

TrickyDicky101

Personally, if the property is earlier than the 70s (or other extenuating circumstances), I would go for the full building survey. That's just my opinion...

lindens

If you have recently watched the programme on Tv with sarah Beeny "Help my house is falling down", you will realise a full survey is a must if the house is over 30 years old and/or had an extension etc. There was a thread on here about the programme and it was suggested it be re-titled and called "help i'm a numpty and didnt get a survey" because the owners had severe problems with recently purchased houses, most of which would have shown up on a survey
For the sake of £500 odd, you could save yourself literally tens of thousands if the property has any really severe problems.

Will the estate agent or surveyor pay for any expensive repairs if they are found to be wrong, and you dont get a full survey done? i think not

farazfastian

Thanks for the replies and i definitely realize that it's a must do BUT my problem is that the Home Buyer Survey is already booked for tomorrow lets see if i can convert that to Building Survey because i'm already paying almost 600 for just Home buyer report.

Emy1501

Getting a Building survey is not a must do to be honest. The vast majority of people buying a 1930's will either get a valuation or homebuyers report. Help my house is falling down etc are programmes showing the extremes not the norm. The few I have seen it would have been obvious to anyone with any sense that there was problems etc.

A good surveyor doing a homebuyers report should be able to pick up any problems or suggest further research with regards to any concerns. I know loads of people who have bought 1930's properties without a building survey report and I do not know any who have moved in and found that their property is falling down or suffering with movement etc.

If you want real piece of mind then try and change the survery to a building survey but I would not get yourself worked up over the matter unless there were real signs for concerns when you viewed.

olly300

The real issue with a Homebuyers report is that if the surveyor doesn't have easy access to part of the property i.e. the loft then they don't have to gain access they can leave it. Some vendors knowing there are problems will block access things hoping that you aren't getting a full survey.

Oh and another way to get a property looked at is if you know someone in the building trade or is a really good DIYer. Lot of surveys to protect the surveyor's legal position will tell you to get a different type of report i.e. damp report from a specialist.

Owain_Moneysaver

lindens wrote: »

If you have recently watched the programme on Tv with sarah Beeny "Help my house is falling down", you will realise a full survey is a must if the house is over 30 years old and/or had an extension etc. There was a thread on here about the programme and it was suggested it be re-titled and called "help i'm a numpty and didnt get a survey" because the owners had severe problems with recently purchased houses, most of which would have shown up on a survey

Although if you mean the Fareham house then CambridgeAngel had a survey, which didn't pick up the crack in the wall as being a problem.

If you know the property is decrepit there's an argument for not wasting money paying someone to tell you it's decrepit.

If you want a structural survey then get a structural engineer to do it, not a surveyor.

Emy1501

olly300 wrote: »

The real issue with a Homebuyers report is that if the surveyor doesn't have easy access to part of the property i.e. the loft then they don't have to gain access they can leave it. Some vendors knowing there are problems will block access things hoping that you aren't getting a full survey.

A building surveyor will only look at areas that are eadily accessable. They may move things which a homebuyers surveyor will not do but if someone blocks the loft access so they cant get up there then its likely just like ahomebuyers surveyer they will leave this and report it in the survey.

http://www.home.co.uk/guides/buying/building_survey.htm

The surveyor will check the property thoroughly, looking at everything that is visible or easily accessible to examine the soundness of the structure, its general condition and all major or minor faults. More specialist surveys can also be carried out on aspects such as foundations, damp proofing, or tree roots, either by a specialist within the firm of surveyors or by an independent specialist surveyor

jozbo

if you look at surveyors' webpages the homebuyers report is regularly classed as an 'economy' service providing a compromise between valuation and full survey. In my opinion it is worth the couple of hundred quid extra just to have that more thorough report. if there are specific problems that come up in a homebuyers report, might you have to commission a full survey anyway?

farazfastian

Well i saw the 'Help my house falling' program last night and i can tell that the house i've bought is no way even near to those houses.
When one is buying those kind of houses they should do all kinds of surveys i believe. One of the main reason i've gone with my house is that its been very well maintained in past 20 years. The current owners seems like a decent professional family, the only reason they're moving as their children are grown and i'm just starting my family with my 10 months boy as that area is very popular because of schools. I know these days you can't trust anyone but still you can feel/sense if there's something dodgy.

I still tried to convert home buyer to building survey this morning as it's just couple of hundred more but the surveyor not agreeing to do so as they've blocked their time for the home buyer. Again if we find any signs/hints that it'll even need a building survey i'll probably won't go for it as i don't have money and time to invest on my newly bought house.

Lets see how it goes, thanks for your help.

Regards
Faraz